Family First Helps Bring Ulrich To Ohio State

Evan Ulrich C / SS / Buckeye Valley, OH / 2020

DELAWARE - In prioritizing what is important at this point in life, Evan Ulrich listed family, school and baseball … in that order.

It brought on a realization about his college commitment.

“I’ve always wanted to go to school out of state, but realizing that George Washington is seven hours away and that I would not see my family much …,” Ulrich explained about his decision to decommit. “Having them at games and in the stands is important to me. I’m a family-first person. School is second and baseball number three.”

But the decision to look elsewhere for a college was not easy.

“It was really an early commitment for me,” admitted the Buckeye Valley junior, who verballed to GW in November of his sophomore year. “I was really set on it but getting older, I was at Thanksgiving at my house and began realizing I wanted to stay close to home.

“Then in December I got a call from the coach (Dave Lorber) that recruited me at GW and he said he got a Division III head coaching job in New Jersey. That kind of added to me wanting to stay closer to home.”

Enter Ohio State.

“I had talks with my high school coach on decommitting and who might have money left for a 2020,” the top-rated junior catcher in the state said. “He gave me names of a couple schools and Ohio State caught my eyes.

“First I decommitted. Then I went to an OSU camp and it kind of clicked. I took a small visit that Friday and I was ready for it. They offered the Friday after camp and I committed at the visit.”

Admittedly, telling George Washington about the decommitment was hard.

“That was extremely difficult,” Ulrich said. “I have extreme respect for coach (Gregg) Ritchie. He’s done so much with Team USA and GW, so it was bittersweet. It would have been cool to be coached by him, he’s an unbelievable coach. It was one of the more difficult things I’ve ever had to do.”

Ironically, there was some interest from Ohio State prior to the earlier commitment to George Washington.